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| My project fleabay Midget!! |
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| johnbaz:
Hi all Here's my MG midget that i 'won' on ebay for £450, it was close to me so i viewed it first and thought it was solid enough for the opening price, i bid and no one else did so it came to stay with me!! The underside of the car is solid but the wings, doors etc needed some work (still do actually!!) Here's the car as it was when it was delivered (apart from me trying to take the hood down in very cold weather and breaking the plazzie back window ::) First thing to go was the 'orrible gret lumps of rubber from front and back, i was going to convert to chrome but i think i'll just weld over all the mount holes and go proper bumperless... The problem with going bumperless is that when you remove the front bumper, there are two large rectangular holes which need to be filled so i welded a plate over, there was some rot below the headlamps too so that needed a plate making/welding in.. When i removed the offside wing, the inner wing was rotten on the front edge so that needed some new steel in too.. The indicator hole filled.. the rot cut away and new steel welded in.. From the inside.. There was a hole on the top of the wing which i made a small round patch for and that and the cutout at the bottom rear of the wing have now been done, there's on bit that needs patching before i can replace the wing, it would have been easier to but a couple of replacement wings but that would have been nearly £600 :bugeye: The rear of the tub where the soft top fits needs welding, it's a shame a pressed panel can't be bought for this as it would be much easier than making several plates to cover from one side to t'uther... Not much is happening lately on it due to an accident at work and the fact that it's gettin a bit cold now... John :) |
| johnbaz:
Hi There is rot on the rear wing all along the bottom though the cills are rock solid... Rotten!!! Chopped out and wing to floor panel dry fitted (the leather aprons were to catch the sparks from the grinder.. Rear wing dry fitted (it's a wing for a chrome bumper midget :hammer: ) Closer.. They didn't get fully welded as the weather turned very wet anyhow, i needed to put some strip where the inner arch meets the outer arch :dremel: When the bodywork is finished my brother is going to paint it for me (it's what he does for a living!!, he says he's going to do something 'special' with it!! (he once painted a full motorbike and the owners helmet with luminescent paint, i'll bet it was a shock that thing riding by on a country road in the dead of night!!!) John :) |
| Brass_Machine:
Very cool. Something about small convertibles. Never had an MG... Dad had an Austin Sprite. I had a Triumph TR7. All very cool cars. How far are you going to restore? Any mods planned? Gonna drop a Chevy 350 in it? :zap: Eric |
| johnbaz:
--- Quote from: Brass_Machine on November 05, 2010, 10:48:39 PM ---Very cool. Something about small convertibles. Never had an MG... Dad had an Austin Sprite. I had a Triumph TR7. All very cool cars. How far are you going to restore? Any mods planned? Gonna drop a Chevy 350 in it? :zap: Eric --- End quote --- Ha Ha!!! I'm afraid the dinky li'l 1500cc engine will stay put, the only mods will be to remove the rubber bumpers and weld over the mounting holes, cut back the chassis front beams and fit a nice grill.. I have a hardtop that came with the car, i may fit that until i get a new ragtop for it... The bonnet (hood for our American cousins!) leading edge is riddled (as always!!) with holes, i bought a load of spares, amongst them was another bonnet which didn't seem quite as rusty as the original until i started probing with a centre punch :bang: Result of probe... Holes filled in with migset, there was a bit more after this pic to get it all solid.. a bit of filler.. And a bit of aerosol primer, my bro will do a proper job when it goes to his place...the primer is still wet hence the trees reflecting in the paint!! Strangely, the back end of the car is surprisingly solid!! I've set a target of may next year to get it all up and running so that i can attend the Midget 50 gathering!!! (probably be more like the Midget 60!!!) John :) |
| HS93:
I had an older car , and did a lot of work on telescopic rear shocks instead of the leaver arm and like yourself major body work how is the boot floor ? but the bigest mod was a gearbox change as the car I had a 1966 had no syncro on first, I fitted a 2000e ford box the old Lotus cortina etc box that was used by a lot of car moders, you will prob find there is an equivelat, it had a nice long 1st gear I also fitted a riley kestal 3.7 diff and some special tunning half shafts (a must) unless you want to drive around with a boot full of standard half shafts, I fitted the later a series 1300 engine and a single 4o sidedraft webber sounded the biz and went well the gearbox was simple to do as the adapter plate off the later car only needed re drilling and a bit of playing with the hydrolic clutch some people fitted the crosflow ford but i wanted to stay as near to what it was supposed to be , just after finnishing it I had to have a hip opp ( I was only young) and could not get in it again, Oh fit a roll hoop, I saw one in a scrap yard that had rolled with out one and the teeath and hair in the top edge of the screen put me off. peter |
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